


look at how my tears ricochet

by beelisburger



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, M/M, immortal fem!byleth & very mortal dimitri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26817964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beelisburger/pseuds/beelisburger
Summary: Byleth is immortal, but it never truly matters until it finally does.She has to learn how to live through loss and grief, but a painting in a museum briefly allows her to be reunited with the one she loves.work inspired by: sseunbean's marvelous art (link in notes!)
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth, Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58





	look at how my tears ricochet

**Author's Note:**

> This work was inspired by @ sseunbean!  
> Thanks to the artist for giving me permission to write this tiny thing, I hope you all like it.  
> I wrote this while listening to Taylor Swift's Folklore so do what you must with this information.  
> Also it features the Byleth Twins Theory because ... i love it.  
> here's the art [ by sseunbean on twitter!!](https://twitter.com/sseunbean/status/1292597336540143621?s=19)  
> 

The war was won. 

They lost everything, and gained the same in the span of a moment. Dimitri lost the final remains of his family and gained a unified kingdom. Byleth lost too many of her students, most of them to her own flaming blade. But gained peace for those of them who remained, and finally for herself. Her brother would probably survive too, albeit he still was busy fighting another side of that terrible war. 

As the final rays of the falling sun left trace to the shadows, Byleth finally allowed herself to breathe. 

The war was won, but the continent was to be built from scratch again. Towns had been destroyed, homes had been scorched, families divided. And now that Edelgard was dead and Claude beyond Fódlan’s Throat, everything was weighing down on Dimitri’s already heavy shoulder. But he was never alone. Matching rings on their fingers, and a promise as strong as the Sword of the Creator, Byleth stood by his side every single step of the way. 

Just as Byleth expected, her brother came back. He was bruised, and tired, and although neither of them seemed to age, he looked older. She was sure she did too. He stayed for her wedding, and walked her down the aisle. 

“I’ll be leaving tomorrow”, he said to her, on the fourth night of celebration for the royal wedding. Byleth was tired, her legs were sore, but she had been happy. Her heart had never felt this light, but now she felt the familiar pang of pain once again. 

“Will you be coming back?” she asked, even though she very well knew the answer. 

“I’m only going to the Monastery. I have a duty there”, he said. They both knew that was not what she had meant. 

Her brother kept the role of Archbishop long enough for Fódlan to heal. He then showed up on the highest tower of Fhirdiad and told her the same thing he had told her all those years ago, the night of her wedding. 

“Will you be coming back?”, she asked again. 

“I will. But none of them will be here to see me”. She had never heard her brother’s voice so broken with grief. But then again, she had never cried so hard as she was now. Not even when their father died. 

He left, and a part of her heart left with him. She knew she would see him again and she knew that, at least, he was not going to be alone. She remembered the blood, and the certainty on his brother’s face when he told Rhea to give Yuri half of his heart. Now they were going to live forever, bound to meet in the endless cycle of changing history. As she looked out on the snowy roofs of the city, she felt alone again. But then Dimitri came, and held her close to his chest, and warmth sprung back once again.

*** 

“I could do it too”, she said. Dimitri looked pale on his bed, but there was still so much of the king in him. It would not be the end. 

“Do … what, my love?” he asked, sincere confusion in his eyes. _Ah,_ she thought. Not even Dimitri knew about her brother’s heart. So she told him. And then she added, “You could have half of mine”. 

It was the first time Dimitri’s smile made her angry. “I already have it, don’t I?” 

“I’m not joking”, she replied, her tone harsh.

Dimitri’s features hardened. “Neither am I. I cannot accept it, my dear. I do not deserve it, either.” 

That was what he would always tell her, every time she tried to convince him. No matter the tactic, no matter the plea, the answer would not change. 

She held his hand, until he was no longer able to hold hers back. As the snow fell thick, Fhirdiad lost its king. And although Byleth’s heart was intact, she felt as if she had lost even more than that. Those who had once been her student, the few who had remained, all came for her. They supported her once again. Then they were gone too. Her brother had come back the night King Dimitri had died. He had already been on his way, he said. But he had been too late anyway. 

“Come with me”, he pleaded. This time, it was Byleth’s turn to say no to pleas. Dimitri left her with a continent to take care of, and she would not abandon it. She did not resent her brother, but they were no longer the same. He understood. He stayed by her side, and when he left again, she held him closer for a long time before allowing him to go. Breath-taking grief had mellowed down into emptiness and longing, and she made sure Dimitri’s inheritance would thrive. 

She left her throne to her children, and watched over their children. Things changed, but Byleth never ceased to look over what Dimitri had left her. Magic was lost, and history became myth. The deeds of those she had once known were passed down as fairy tales or teachings, but were never once forgotten. 

Years passed. Centuries almost became a millennia, and Byleth was still there. Her clothes were different, and her house no longer resembled the Monastery, or the King’s Castle, or the heap of wood that she used to share with her brother and Jeralt and call “home”. 

She was waiting in line, the Museum of Fhirdiad finally re-opening its gates for the public after long years of maintenance. Archaeologists had found an impressive collection of historical portraits, the news said. Byleth knew that it probably was not a chance, but she still went there on the opening day, liking the idea of it being fate. 

So many years had passed from Fódlan’s most famous war. The country had changed, both politically and historically. But as she walked down the marbled hallways of the museum, it felt as if time had ticked back, even though it had been years since she had to make use of Sothis’ gift. She stood, wordless, in front of a massive painting of the Monastery, and it so closely resembled her memories of the first time she had seen it that it seemed to her that the birds were chirping near, as three young lords told her brother and her about all the marvels of the Garreg Mach. 

Friends’ faces passed as a blur around her. Some scenes were unknown to her, some still felt fresh in her mind. But it was the portrait at the end of the hallway that truly knocked the wind out of her. She knew he would be there, of course he would be there. But seeing Dimitri’s eyes on her again made the weight of all the years pass by as if there had been none. She smiled, getting as close to the portrait as she could. She wished she could softly touch the blue paint of his armour, the golden light on his head. 

“Flayn tells me it’s popular these days to set a couple selfie as your lock screen”, she said out loud, fishing the phone from her pocket. “Not that you’d know what a selfie is, but I wish I could have taken one with you”. 

On her phone screen, Dimitri’s soft gaze seems to look straight into the camera, and Byleth has to force herself to blink hard in order to chase the tears away. He looked beautiful, just as she remembered. He looked like a King and so much more. 

“I miss you”, she whispered, hoping that somehow he would hear her. 

“I miss him too”, a voice behind her said. She turned her head, and found her brother staring at the girl and painting both. His eyes were sad, but he was smiling. Her face mirrored his own. She stretched out her hand, and he quickly grabbed it. 

“Where have you been?” she asked, holding tight. 

“We were in Sreng up until recently. I came back as soon as I heard about the paintings”. 

“Where’s Yuri?” 

“Looking for his own portrait.” 

“He misses them too?” 

“We all do”. 

They stayed silent after that, two brothers holding hands looking at the man they both used to love in their own ways, the other visitors but a blur behind them. Byleth smiled softly. So many things had changed, and she could no longer remember what his voice sounded like. But as long as she would breathe, she would keep the memories they shared. In the end, Dimitri had been right: he already had half of her heart, and she would keep him alive, through stories and memories, until the last breath of her long, immortal life. They would keep all of their legacy alive. 


End file.
